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The Bell BriefFrom Dr. Jennifer Bell, DDS
MEDIUMResearchTier 1

Impact of Keratinized Mucosa Width and Mucosal Thickness on Implant Outcomes and Brushing Discomfort: A 25‐Year Cohort Study

SourceJournal of Clinical PeriodontologyTier 1Peer-Reviewed Research

By Emilio Couso‐Queiruga, Clemens Raabe, Andrea Roccuzzo, Giovanni E. Salvi, Manrique Fonseca, Vivianne Chappuis

Originally at onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Summary & scoring by The Bell Brief (Dr. Jennifer Bell) using the Drill-Down Protocol (Drill-Down Score) — not the original publisher.

Why it matters for dental

A 25-year cohort study in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology shows that implants with <2 mm keratinized mucosa and thin mucosa (<2 mm) had higher peri-implant bone loss, bleeding on probing, and patient-reported brushing discomfort, giving periodontists, implant surgeons, and restorative dentists objective soft-tissue parameters to reduce long-term implant complications.

Key points

  • 25-year follow-up of 135 patients (214 implants) revealed 1.8× greater marginal bone loss and 2.3× higher bleeding-on-probing prevalence when keratinized mucosa width was <2 mm.
  • Mucosal thickness <2 mm correlated with 37% of patients reporting moderate-to-severe brushing discomfort versus 8% when mucosa ≥2 mm.
  • Multivariate analysis identified thin mucosa and narrow keratinized band as independent predictors of peri-implantitis progression, independent of plaque control and smoking status.
  • Findings suggest pre-implant or peri-implant soft-tissue augmentation may be clinically justified when baseline mucosa parameters fall below the 2 mm thresholds.

Who should care

SpecialistAcademia

Read the original on Journal of Clinical Periodontology

Full reporting and any paywall content live on onlinelibrary.wiley.com. We summarize and score; we do not republish.

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